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April 2018
Diane recently began making a website about all the Fire Sculptures Phil made from 1986 - 2012, with help from many others. She will gradually add more pages to the website. It will detail some fires, and credit those that helped. However as we grow older its hard to remember everyone over such a long period. So if you ever worked on a fire sculpture with Phil - get in touch on gorvinbews@zoho.com and tell us what year, and which fire it was, and we will give you a name check on the website.
www.firesculptures.co.uk
This image is of the Free fire sculpture at Taurus Crafts in 2007
June 2018
We met up with Rick and Sally - Jackson Fawkes Glass to collect Diane's Salmon glass relief - one of the elements for Settlement Sculptures.
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News 2018
February 2018
The Horse's head unbolted and the stainless steel fixings inserted into the feet with bolts and resin, prior to the removal of the scaffolding.
February 2018
Shell Seat Sculptures for Flaghead Chine, Poole
Three Shell Maquettes made by Phil in direct plaster for the Albion Stone Masons to work from. Phil usually carves the stone for our commissions but due to having plenty of work still to do for Settlement sculptures for Banbury - these were made on Portland. Phil supervised and carved some final details.
March 2018
Trip to Poole to take the Shell maquettes, firstly to the clients - Environmental Services, Borough of Poole, to discuss and work out the layout for the sculptures, using the site model by Barbara Uphoff -
Landscape Designer, with assistance from Reuben Hawkwood - Project Manager.
We then travelled to Portland to Albion Stone Quarry to discuss the next stage of making the shells and
left the maquettes with them, to make drawn templates from, in the mould cutting room.
March 2018
Spirit of the Forest
Coleford Town Council confirmed the go-ahead for P.J. Engineering to make a pattern from the maquette to then fabricate a stainless steel maquette to fine-tune the design and aid costing of the full sized sculpture.
April 2018
Paul Wigley assisted Phil for a few days on the final details of the Horse - one of four sculptures for Settlement for Hanwell View, Banbury.
May 2018
Our Shoe Sculptures website has a new domain name and can now be found on
www.shoesculptures.co.uk
May 2018
Trip to Albion Stone Quarry Ltd on Portland to view progress of the Shell Seat Sculptures.
May 2018
The Horse sculpture for Banbury is now installed in the public open space at Hanwell View Banbury.
Damon Bramley transported the Horse and assisted Phil with the installation.
Reuben Hawkwood and Barbara Uphoff with Phil, after the installation of the Shells was completed.
Photo credit:
This image was taken on Barbara's camera.
July 2018
Rebecca Thomson-Weissbort kindly invited us to display our sculptures at her open studio event, as a part of FARopen. Rebecca exhibited her paintings along with textiles by Annie Tyhurst. We showed two works, Phil's Sequoia Bird made from Oak and Sequoia (with hidden bird box) and Diane's bronze mask Regard.
Photo credit: Jackson Fawkes
June 2018
Phil sited the Shell Seat Sculptures at Flaghead Chine, Poole, with the assistance of two workers from the Borough of Poole Direct Works Team and Brian Oldridge who transported the sculptures from Albion Stone Quarry, where they were made. Phil designed the work, provided drawings and maquettes of the shells, and spent a week in June on Portland carving the fine detail. Commissioned by Barbara Uphoff, who designed the landscaping, and Project Manager Reuben Hawkwood, Environmental Services, Borough of Poole.
July 2018
The Seaside Garden opening at Flaghead Chine, with Phil's Shells, photos taken after the event except
for one showing our sister-in law Vera seated on a shell.
August 2018
A sculpture based on the cat from Dr Salter's Daydream, but to be altered in the wax - to be more like our three legged grey rescue cat from Spain, has been commissioned for Tewkesbury's Alley Cat Project. To be sited next to the Avon River in Tewkesbury. Photoshop image of how it will look.
July 2018
Phil repaired the Green Man's foot with a new carved oak branch, stainless steel fixings and extra copper
leaves. The new oak repair will gradually weather to match the exisiting oak sculpture. Phil first made and installed the Green Man in 1992, the sculpture is sited in the courtyard garden leading to the Heritage Centre, Knutsford. The centre is run by volunteers who fundraised locally to pay for the repair.
October 2018
Work on the wax of Czar The Sculptors' cat nearly completed, it was taken to Castle Fine Arts Foundry to be cast in bronze.
October 2018
Work in progress by Paul and Ben at PJ Engineering Coleford, of the larger stainless steel maquette of The Spirit of the Forest. The pattern made from making this version, will enable it to be scaled up to full size next year - to be sited in Coleford.
October 2018
Phil has found a source of oak wood for the Cruck Arches for Settlement. In the studio he has been working on the smaller oak carved elements. Still a work in progress, this photos shows the cat on the post - part of the seating for Arch 1 and also the beginng of the roughing out of the medieval woman's head, Diane will be making the bronze face of the woman - to fit the oak head.
October 2018
Diane's photo of shadows in our home has been selected for the Loosen Art, Shadows exhibition in Rome 14th - 22nd January 2019.
November 2018
Phil travelled to Banbury for a photoshoot, for a press release about The Horse, and to inspect the oak sculpture which has gradually turned silver as expected. The bird box contained some lacewings and other insects - hopefully next year birds will make it their home.
November 2018
The stainless steel maquette is now completed. Coleford Town Councillors came to PJ Engineering to view this larger version. The Spirit of the Forest has now received full planning permission and will be fabricated in 2019/2020 and is due to be sited Autumn 2020.
